The war veteran claims the shooting of the Royal Military Policemen by an Iraqi mob was partly due to the fact the Paras had no idea the area was a powder keg.

The Red Caps were surrounded by a 400-strong mob after the Paras escaped an ambush in the town of Majar al-Kabir in June 2003.

The military police were there to liaise with Iraqi officers and did not know the Paras were operating at the other end of the town.

They only had 50 ammunition rounds each and no satellite phone.

The ex-NCO, who wants to remain anonymous, claims the Parachute Regiment was told there was "no threat" to troops in the Al Majar region, north of Basra.

This directly contradicts the conclusions of a 2005 Army board of inquiry that said the Paras had been told there could be violence.

The veteran has given a statement to a solicitor representing four of the dead soldiers' families.

He said: "At the briefing we were told no threat to us existed on that day. I went into the village thinking it would be a milk run. I was shocked at the level of violence we faced.

“They believe the Army failed in its obligations to protect the lives of soldiers and to carry out a proper investigation into their deaths”

"There is no doubt we would have gone into the operation differently if we had known the facts."

The families of Corporals Russell Aston, 30, and Simon Miller, 21, and Lance Corporals Benjamin Hyde, 23, and Tom Keys, 20, are bringing a claim under the Human Rights Act to try to force a public inquiry.

They believe the Army failed in its obligations to protect the lives of soldiers and to carry out a proper investigation into their deaths.

The other two men who died were Sergeant Simon Hamilton-Jewell, 41, and Corporal Paul Long, 24.